Agenda item

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) has prepared the attached update on behalf of the Taxi Licensing Team as at February 2024 and will give an overview of the update to the Committee at the meeting.

Tom Ince (Principal Compliance Officer) referred to the taxi licensing update that was circulated with the agenda and highlighted the following:

·         The team had been busy since the last meeting in December 2023 with the processing of 21 new licence applications and 81 renewals during January 2024.  They had been experiencing some delays with the DBS process for some drivers with enhanced checks taking from a week or so to months, although this was out of their control.  With the quick return of a DBS check the turnaround of a driver being licenced could be a month which was positive;

·         The changes to the requirements for tinted windows was implemented on 1 January 2024 following approval at the last meeting and this has been well received by the trade who had been lobbying for this change for some time;

·         The team would be introducing the single licensing zone for hackney carriages in Wiltshire with effect from 1 April 2024.  Recently published guidance from the Government supports the removal of smaller licensing zones and the creation of a single zone to cover an authority’s area.  This move would give more opportunities for work and cut the number of ‘dead’ miles;

·         There had been some push back from drivers in the South area because this would mean that they would have to travel for their 6 monthly MOT vehicle checks to be carried out in Devizes.  It had been agreed that it was not cost effective to operate the workshop in Salisbury and the other areas had had to travel to Devizes for their MOTs for the last two years.  The workshop was available for vehicle inspections currently for 4 days a week, but this could be increased to 5 days a week if there was a demand for that;

·         The team continued to proactively enforce the Council’s policies in relation to taxi licensing by carrying out inspections at the taxi ranks and it was hoped that the recent staff sickness issues were now behind them so that there would be a visible presence at the ranks.  The messages received from drivers included that footfall was down and the trade would not be viable without school contract work and that the night time economy had struggled since Covid; and

·         The Government published best practice guidance in November 2023 and this places a lot of emphasis on accessibility to taxi ranks and taxi services and the team would be undertaking a rank review across Wiltshire’s major towns to look at the level of accessibility, number of dropped kerbs, and shelters to wait in etc.

It was confirmed that the ranks would be assessed to see if they were in the right places and if alterations would need to be made for the installation of electric charging points – this would be a big challenge for the Council.

The Chairman asked Tom Ince to comment on the recent story in the press about a Chippenham resident being refused access to a taxi with his assistance dog.  Tom reported that the Council’s policy on this was clear and that it was unlawful for the driver not to carry the passenger and his assistance dog.  The driver was unclear as the dog was not marked as an assistance dog and he was unclear on his requirements to carry an unmarked assistance dog.  Following an investigation, it was recommended that there be clearer wording included in the Council’s policy to explain what is expected of the drivers and that a disabled passenger does not have to prove that their dog is an assistance dog.

In response to a number of general questions from the Committee Members the

following was clarified:

·         Uber do not currently operate in Wiltshire but always (as well as any other operators) have the option to apply to do so;

·         Regarding the review of accessibility of taxi ranks this would be carried out with Town and Parish Councils if they were looking to re-site the ranks as well as working with the Highways Team and they would also involve stakeholder groups and the Area Boards to get their feedback as to what they would want to see although they would not be able to make promises about what could be achieved and there would also be a cost/benefit analysis; and

·         The Council does not mandate the use of card payments and it is up to individuals/operators to decide if they take cards and cash as payment for fares.

Resolved:

That the Committee note the Taxi Licensing Team update.